Navy SEALS members and their dates arrive at the premiere of "Act of Valor" in Los Angeles, Monday, Feb. 13, 2012. The film opens in theaters on Feb. 24. (AP Photo/Vince Bucci)

Midnight shows

There are midnight showings of “Act of Valor” on Feb. 23, the night before the film’s release, at the AMC Mission Valley, La Jolla Village, Palm Promenade and Otay Ranch theaters, along with the Edwards Mira Mesa.

HOLLYWOOD  Sunset Boulevard was shut down for an hour Monday night, but it wasn’t marquee-name movie stars creating the hoopla.

It was Navy SEALs who appear in the new action film “Act of Valor,” a first-of-its-kind movie that uses real U.S. military service members in a Hollywood-style plot, all sanctioned by the Navy in the name of recruiting.

There was a red carpet-style entrance for the SEALs and a splashy after party with former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, film star Josh Duhamel and NFL quarterback Tim Tebow on the guest list.

Even the seen-everything Hollywood press corps seemed wowed when a handful of Navy Leap Frogs jumpers appeared in the night sky, then dropped onto Sunset with a whoosh of blue and gold parachutes. They earned applause from the assembled media, who snapped personal photos with their iPhones.

Inside the Arclight Theater, the audience gave a standing ovation to the eight active-duty SEALs who performed in the film.

Director Scott Waugh made jokes about how long the movie took to make. He got married and had two children in the four-year span. The delay, according to people close to the film, came because they needed to film the SEALs when real-life training situations arose. And, apparently, Navy submarines are hard to schedule.

“This is in memory of everyone who has served,” Waugh told the audience. “Hopefully this will make you proud.”

The mother of one fallen SEAL from Coronado attended the premiere. Her son, Marc Alan Lee, was the first SEAL killed in Iraq. His mom, Debbie Lee, said one of the movie scenes is loosely based on the Ramadi mission that took his life.

“These guys are heroes, and America needs to hear their stories,” Lee said.

The movie got a flashbulb-popping premiere in Hollywood, but its heart is really in San Diego.

Scenes were filmed in Coronado, Imperial Beach and on the San Diego-based warship Bonhomme Richard. The SEAL command is headquartered at Coronado Naval Amphibious Base, and that’s where all SEAL hopefuls go through the 21 weeks of brutal training that turns them into elite sea-air-land warriors.

According to insiders, the Coronado-based SEALs pictured in the movie had to be nudged into becoming screen “stars.”

They play themselves, but in a fictional scenario that shows off signature SEAL skills. There’s a nighttime hostage rescue, parachuting out of airplanes, sniper work, use of a mini-submarine and good old-fashioned gunfights.

Putting their faces in front of a camera goes against the long-held “no comment” policy of America’s special forces military community. Even when an East Coast-based SEAL team conducted the May mission that killed Osama bin Laden, the SEAL command wouldn’t really acknowledge the victory.

The SEALs who walked the red carpet Monday smiled broadly for photos but didn’t stop long enough for interviews. In the movie, only first names are used in dialogue.